Latest news with #MichaeliaCash

Sky News AU
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Michaelia Cash defends Jacinta Price in explosive parliamentary speech
Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash discusses her explosive parliamentary speech in defence of Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.

Sky News AU
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘They think laws don't apply to them': Wong slammed for not suspending Mehreen Faruqi
Shadow Attorney-General Julian Leeser says Foreign Minister Penny Wong should have taken on Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Michaelia Cash's advice that Greens Deputy Leader Mehreen Faruqi should have been suspended for an anti-Israel act. Ms Faruqi has had sanctions placed on her because of the act, but Mr Leeser says the Labor government 'could've gone further'. 'It was a sign of a lack of leadership that Penny Wong has displayed that she didn't back Michaelia Cash's call to suspend her,' Mr Leeser told Sky News host Steve Price. 'I think a suspension is the right sort of thing. 'What we see again and again from the Greens is a sense that the laws and the conventions of our society don't apply to them.'

Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Disgusting': Albanese government condemned by US Ambassador to Israel and Israeli Ambassador to Australia over joint statement on Gaza War
The Albanese government has been condemned by diplomats for its decision to join 27 other countries in issuing a joint statement criticising Israel's actions in Gaza. The US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has condemned Australia's decision to join 27 other countries in issuing a joint statement criticising Israel's actions in Gaza. It comes after Foreign Minister Penny Wong signed a statement which accused Israel of 'drip feeding aid' and 'killing civilians, including children'. The Albanese government has since been criticised by Mr Huckabee, as well as Israel's Ambassador to Australia and shadow foreign affairs minister Michaelia Cash. In a fiery statement, the US Ambassador to Israel described the joint statement as 'disgusting'. 'Twenty-five nations put pressure on Israel instead of savages of Hamas! Gaza suffers for one reason: Hamas rejects every (ceasefire) proposal,' he said. 'Blaming Israel is irrational.' — Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) July 21, 2025 Shadow foreign affairs minister Michaelia Cash said the Albanese government's stance on Israel was 'disappointing'. 'It is disappointing that once again the Albanese government is supporting a statement attacking Israel,' Ms Cash said in a statement on Tuesday. 'First and foremost, any moral outrage about the situation in Gaza should be directed at Hamas. 'Hamas could end the suffering of the people of Gaza by freeing the remaining Israeli hostages and laying down their weapons.' The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, and Italy are among the governments who signed the communique. However, other allies including the United States, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia did not sign the document. The Ambassador of Israel to Australia, Amir Maimon, rejected the Albanese government's statement, calling it 'disconnected from reality'. 'Israel rejects the joint statement published by a group of countries, including Australia, as it is disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas,' he said. The condemnation follows mounting criticism of the Israeli government's actions in Gaza, particularly its handling of humanitarian aid. The joint statement criticised Israel's 'dangerous' aid delivery model and accused the Israeli government of depriving Gazans of their dignity by limiting essential supplies. Israel has rejected many of the claims about civilian deaths and blockages of humanitarian aid. As federal politicians returned to Canberra, for the first sitting fortnight since the election, activists rallied on the lawns outside Parliament House. The protesters paraded around with anti-Israel posters and held signs that said things like 'Albanese, Wong, gutless American patsies'. There were also decapitated bloody dolls strewn over a large sign that featured US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The protest was at the back entrance to Parliament House, where Mr Albanese walked past on Monday. He also needed to pass the protest on his way in to open parliament on Tuesday.

Sky News AU
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘The attention it deserves': Albanese urged to turn attention to US alliance
Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Michaelia Cash discusses the importance of the US-Australia alliance, urging Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to pour more focus into the area. 'I want Mr Albanese to immediately, now, turn his attention to the Australia-US alliance,' Ms Cash told Sky News host Chris Kenny. 'Is Mr Albanese deliberately, for reasons only known to himself, seeking to deliberately diminish or undermine the US-Australia relationship? 'Mr Albanese now needs to give the US-Australia alliance the attention it deserves.'

ABC News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Coalition accuses PM of making 'excuses' for China as visit ends
The Coalition has accused the prime minister of making "excuses" for China and neglecting the United States as Anthony Albanese paid a high-profile visit to a giant panda breeding and research centre. A group of journalists followed the prime minister as he toured the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu on the last leg of his trip to China. Mr Albanese paid a visit to Fu Ni, one of the two beloved giant pandas based in Adelaide Zoo for more than a decade before China sent two new pandas over in January this year. Mr Albanese called her "a great ambassador for China, and a great friend of Australia", spending about an hour touring the centre, one of a web of Chinese institutions working to build back the population of the iconic species. But the Coalition has started to ramp up criticism of the prime minister's trip, suggesting he hasn't secured enough concrete outcomes for Australia, and that he should pour more effort into Australia's alliance with the United States. Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Michaelia Cash said it was time for Mr Albanese to focus on securing a meeting with US President Donald Trump, and strike a deal to stop US tariffs from hitting the Australian economy. "Where is our trade deal with the United States?" she said on Sky News. "Mr Albanese, you've had your six-day extended visit with our greatest trading partner, you now need to prioritise the relationship, the bedrock of our security, with the leader of the free world, the United States of America. Mr Albanese told journalists he raised Australia's concerns about China's decision to hold live-firing naval drills in the Tasman Sea earlier this year without giving any meaningful notice — although he indicated President Xi Jinping brushed those concerns aside. But both he and the Defence Minister Richard Marles have also said China had the right to navigate through those waters under international law. Senator Cash said Mr Albanese needed to make Australia's position "crystal clear" to China. "Despite of all what's happened in the China trip, the great publicity that Mr Albanese has received, he has not been able to get assurances from the President Xi Jinping of China, in relation to those issues," she said. "It is not for Mr Marles and Mr Albanese to make excuses for the Chinese Communist Party. They are there to ensure Australia's views are heard and respected." Coalition frontbencher James Paterson said that the prime minister's six-day visit and his trip to the Great Wall on Wednesday was starting to look "a little bit indulgent" and that China's response on the live-fire drills was "troubling".